Magic Leap Could Call its First AR Headset ‘Magic Leap One’

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Magic Leap, the secretive augmented reality startup, might be calling its first device ‘Magic Leap One’, as suggested by a recent trademark filing.

The name was filed with the US Patent and Trademark Office on November 6, 2017 alongside something called ‘Magic Leap Monster Battle’. The Monster Battle trademark had been filed and abandoned several times since 2013, and could pertain to a launch title or software integral to the upcoming AR headset.

As reported by Tech Crunchlate last year, the ‘One’ name was first hinted at when the company hired National Geographic marketing head Brenda Freeman to take on the role of CMO. A company spokesperson also mentioned that it was “full steam ahead toward the launch of Magic Leap One.”

image courtesy US Patent and Trademark Office

In a Bloomberg report back in September, it was rumored Magic Leap could be shipping their first device to “a small group of users within six months,” and that the company would also take on a Series D investment led by Temasek Holdings Pte., a Singaporean venture capital firm. While the rumor surrounding the Series D funding round turned out to be true, it’s uncertain if the entire report can be trusted—possible Q2 2018 soft launch and all—so we’ll simply have to wait until Magic Leap announces something (anything).

From what we’ve gathered so far, the Magic Leap headset is said to use a light-field display powered by a novel array of nano-structures, giving the digital imagery true-to-life depth cues which in turn makes the projected image seem more real. While the company has shown its tech to journalists and celebrities alike, all impressions are held within the strict confines of a NDA, so we won’t know much more than what we can tell from public sources such as patents and research papers.

A special thanks goes out to Reddit user AustinM123 for diligently finding the filing.

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But this shtick of: secretive company makes whispers and mumbles for a looong time and then : BOOOOM– Huge, World-shaking release:::

Man that stuff only works out like that in movies.

In the real world it goes more like Duke Nukem Forever– by the time it gets released it isn’t as advanced as what everyone else has on the market. (OR perhaps it’s a Sony type deal– where they legitimately have some proprietary tech no one else has, but everyone else’s less proprietary tech does nearly the same thing, and does it more cheaply and more efficiently.)

You can tell me I should have more faith.

But I still won’t.

In the unlikely event that I’m wrong and Magic Leap’s thingie really *is* awesome, and changes the whole game, I’ll be happy to be wrong. I will be happy that the state of the art will have suddenly taken a *Magic Leap* forward.

I actually have a blog dedicated to Magic Leap. I know it may be a bit weird at least (maybe) to you. not sure if it is or not. but it’s called https://magicleapfans.com/ it’s my blog… Well i don’t own the domain, but i write all the content, anyway. Long story short. what i’m trying to say is. I believe there are many reason’s why this company is too big to fail. Everyone who has seen their tech knows this. (i still haven’t seen it) I’m one of their biggest supporters who hasn’t seen it. I think it’s going to be a BIG future.

And if you don’t think there will be a future for holographic devices and light field tech: EVEN without Magic Leap’s proprietary tech there’s already a company working on a glasses free society of the same kind http://lightfieldlab.com/

Get Schwifty!

When entire countries can fail, like the prior USSR, the idea of “this company is too big to fail” just doesn’t fly… history is littered with them.

Meh I suppose. However. I do think they will at some point catapult us into the future. It’s just my opinion.

lovethetech

Artists, designers & entertainers do not make tech products. That itself tells a lot.
even the lowest denominator company signing a deal with ML is hyped like a big win.

David Herrington

I can understand wanting to hype something that has proven to be amazing, but there hasn’t been any firm basis in reality and therefore important, meaningful, or considerable to show that this device is what it says it is. Meaning there is no evidence to be hyped about.
Writing a blog about something so ephemeral must be very unsatisfying. Sorry to hear that.

NooYawker

Too big to fail? It’s valued at a few billion. How is that too big to fail?

0x

“Too big to fail” is an unnatural abomination of an idea. It entered the popular consciousness during the financial crash, and the organizations deemed “too big to fail” were literally failing (probably more like “too big to survive”) and required a massive injection from govttaxpayers to keep their festering zombie carcasses animated. I can’t speak for others, but to me that phrase does not carry with it the positive connotations you want it to.

I hope what they have is cool. There is definitely a big future in light field and holographic tech. For now it might as well all be hot air until we see something real. If they take too long they will be beaten to the gate andor undercut by the many other engineers and researchers working on similar tech with the same goals in mind. Time will tell.

0x

(this was more in response to Noah than NooYawker, sorry)

Reels Rihard

Well said 0x

kalqlate

Yes, it’s quite strange. A company bucks the trend and takes the option to keep their tech closed and private until release, and some people just can’t take it. Yes, the marketing so far has just been a tease, but I don’t understand why people can’t wish them success instead of failure. “Success”, in their terms, would mean a major technological advance.

I also think they are not just working on finalizing a first Magic Leap device, but smart money is on them preparing a platform in which other tech companies can license the tech and produce their own devices, a la DayDream, etc.

Its two things; one, they have yet to show really anything of substance beyond CG’d videos, and two, they have a guy known for pulling this kind of hype routine with nothing to show for it. I’d like to believe they have something, but I suspect there is little new to show in the long run. People are right to be skeptical under the circumstance.

dk

only their first video is cg concept video …..they have 3 demo videos shot through the lenses
the Good Enough Leap One will do a fine job

Muzufuzo

Be optimistic and be disappointed. That is, at least what life has thought me.

dk

optimistic about what ….it’s basically a hololens with slightly bigger fov and variable focus…..and everyone is working on that …..Good Enough Leap is just one of the companies

lovethetech

By the time ML, if it can work, HL will be smaller, lighter with a bigger FOV.

dk

it is smaller ….because it’s wired to a box in your pocket ….and from one of the last patents it was pretty huge but shaped weirdly for some reason …..but most likely won’t work great ….just well
but yes the hololens is excellent and they have some cool patents for future stuff too

kalqlate

Sad for you.

lovethetech

fake videos never justify any thing.

kalqlate

How about several innovative patent filings?

daveinpublic

I hope Magic Leap does well, but I think most people who have followed their company have become burnt out on their rhetoric. They’ve been hyping nothing for literally like 5 years now. They should wait until they have anything at all to show before they make another press release.

kalqlate

I agree with all that you say; however, how often have you thought FOR SURE you’d reach a particular goal by such-and-such a date or grossly underestimated the amount of time it would take you to get from point A to B?

This is clearly the case with Magic Leap.

I’m sure they didn’t set out to mislead themselves or anyone else. New product development, ESPECIALLY when it is dependent on new, never-before-conceived-or-done technology, MOST OFTEN hits unforeseen snags that drastically alter deliverable time frames.

I would bet that it was only late last year or earlier this year that Magic Leap finally got their “magic” down to a science and began to turn it into a product, a stage that they thought FOR SURE they’d reach more than three years ago, a time when they agreed to rock the world with British astrophysicist Brian Cox at the 2014 Manchester International Festival (MIF) in a presentation called The Age of Starlight: http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-30056232. I still think that MIF is where they will first present their magic to the public… FOUR YEARS after originally intended.

Assuming for a moment that Magic Leap tech is truly revolutionary, four years, even TEN, is just a blip if it causes state-of-the-art to take a (magic) leap forward, as Magic Leap is want to do.

lovethetech

Other companies will reach easily AR maturity much before ML.
Apple will trample them in 2 years.
MS, google & Facebook will finish ML. Amazon too.

kalqlate

Wow! I bow to you for being so clairvoyant! Let’s both bookmark this article and come back in the middle of next year to see what things look like then. :D Even then, if Magic Leap presents something truly amazing, you’ll still be saying “Pfff! Could’ve done that in my sleep. You just watch… ML won’t be here in another 200 years. You just watch!” :D

lovethetech

next year is coming for the past 3 years in ML world, Next year never came.
the final rumor, is half the quality of HL with “poser apps”.
Stop hyping.

When the garbage is released, will you be saying ” Never conceived and done”?

lovethetech

stop hyping “as never conceived”. It is from one of the university academics. Forgot the name.

lovethetech

AR concept was 50+ years old. Most of their ideas existed in books and in lots of printed materials. Nothing new. Some of them laughable as if they innovated them.
Nothing will stand in court except their “magic projector/display lens” if it happens.

kalqlate

Clearly, you don’t understand patents and why patents are constructed and written the way they are. Come on… feed me more nonsense.

lovethetech

I myself have patents written by me for our team.
Ideas are dime a dozen for creativity individuals.
Sorry for your non-sense.

Making claims that they will change the world then show a cgi created video but no actual product or what it can really do isn’t bucking the trend, it’s nonsense. They’re making AR goggles like everyone else. Who cares when other companies have actual products with actual demos.

“Devices and mobile phones” are words in the trademark that made me wince slightly.

Greet

“Our share price is dropping! Quick, file another patent and draw up a press release!”

That1Guy

They aren’t a publicly traded company and they just finished another round of funding worth over $1 billion.

lovethetech

Another new round of most of 0.5 b from outside of USA. Nothing big from USA.
In Home country, no one believes it.

brubble

uh huh.
I want this to “device” to succeed but Im setting my expectations very LOW, just so I’m not too disappointed.

WyrdestGeek

Yeah, same here.

lovethetech

If it is very low compared to marketing hype & fake videos, it will fail.

Shirley

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Elizabeth

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lovethetech

If it is very low compared to marketing hype & coning, it should fail.

Just because some one hates some companies else, they even promotes garbage.

Magic Leap One seems to map to Oculus DK1–limited release to devs, Magic Leap Two–Oculus DK2–wider release to more Dev’s and prosumers with much improved functionality, Magic Leap Three–consumer grade Oculus Rift sold at Best Buy.

I don’t know any DK1 Dev’s that were unhappy with their device and wished they had waited for the Rift to finally come out years later. They were happy with the tech knowing the impending obsolescence. The consumer Rift version was the prize that embodied Palmer Lucky’s vision & was teased years ahead of time. The DK intermediate editions were exciting at the time but were really only learning tools for both Oculus and their partner developers.

Same can be said with Magic Leap…Rony Abovitz’s consumer vision could be for Magic Leap Three with intermediate benefits for Dev’s and prosumers who sign up for Magic Leap One & Two.

That’s the nature of the industry.

Muzufuzo

I’ve been learning about VR since 2011 and following Palmer & Oculus since 2012. Was underwhelmed by DK1, DK2 and now by CV1. I had thought the screen resolulution would be substantially better and games or experiences library wider. Also, the price was supposed to be 300$, I see people have been forgetting about it unfortunately.

Personally I was blown away by the DK2 and knew right then that technology just took an evolutionary step, It reminded me of trying DOOM for the first time. I was right too. It hasn’t faded away and now there are lots of competition with many new products and enhancements coming along. A to Z has all the letters in-between you need to get to Z, it’s coming :)

I assume you mean the software has been like the early 90’s and not the technology that the HMD provides?

Muzufuzo

Windows VR (Rift, Vive etc) is at a similar stage as when laptops were really heavy and video games like Wolfenstein 3D or Doom came out.

lovethetech

In another 10+ years, some other tech will make it work.
Not using this tech.

That1Guy

Bro, you call people stupid for waiting for a product yet you irrationally say you will not use the tech even though you haven’t even seen it yet. You sound like a whiny baby.

Muzufuzo

ML will fail. People working there are not intelligent enough to miraculously invent something revolutionary that noone has ever thought before. It will take many years of hardware and software evolution for AR headsets to become mainstream like smartphones. We are not in a movie, there is no Tony Stark thinking up an iron man suit or jarvis. It will all happen but later.

I actually saw this at a gym. They were showing it on TV there. I am not impressed at all. Still waiting for Back to the Future hoverboard, even though I won’t see it in real life. Only in VR.

kalqlate

Wow! What a champion naysayer you are. Instead of waiting, why don’t you get off your butt and invent it?

daveinpublic

That hover board is very cool, but Magic Leap has been beyond disappointing for years now. I have followed companies like them and the past, and been burned, may as well follow a company that’s actually making something now. They could be successful, but it could also be like 5 to 10 year from now, when the competition has something equal.

kalqlate

So be it.

Muzufuzo

If you consider discussing stuff like a waste of time then why are you even on this website?

kalqlate

Soooo, you’re saying that asking you to be inventive to get what you want is a waste of time? So not just a naysayer, but a lazy complainer as well. Oh, well, have it your way.

Muzufuzo

So you think I can’t criticize anything and every new invention must be invented by me as soon as possible or I’ll be considered lazy.

That1Guy

He’s saying stop complaining and develop your own future. If you can’t then sit back quietly and let others do it for you.

David Herrington

Is this really what reporting has degraded to? Our front page news is the *possible* name of an nonexistent device???